


Advanced Chopstick Techniques

by nausicaa82



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: F/M, Getting Together, Misunderstandings, Summer School, World Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-25
Packaged: 2018-01-12 18:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1194591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nausicaa82/pseuds/nausicaa82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty hours of credit in two weeks-- in Tokyo. Jeff didn't want to question it, and gladly used his miles to buy Annie's plane ticket. She would do the readings, do most of the work, and not be insufferable to hang out with in the evenings. </p><p>It was too good to be true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ihaveitwitheveryone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ihaveitwitheveryone/gifts).



> This is unbeta'd. I welcome people politely pointing out mistakes, so I may correct them.

Twenty hours of credit in two weeks-- in Tokyo. Jeff didn't want to question it. He had loved Japan since one of his mother's boyfriends bought him a Nintendo in an attempt to get Jeff's approval. After the first hour of _The Legend of Zelda_ , Jeff had given it without restraint.

The course was made all the better when Annie was the only one in the group interested and available to go, too. It wasn't just all of the others would be a pain to travel with-- Britta harping constantly about whaling, Troy and Abed insisting on reenacting scenes from Godzilla, Shirley's inevitable evangelizing, or Pierce being well, Pierce-- Annie's going would mean a strong study partner who took great notes and would be happy to do most the work. He could float along, taking in culture while she did most of the readings.

So, he didn't think twice of offering to pay for her ticket; he had the miles to cover the both of them. If he was absolutely honest with himself, this was his first time out of the country, out of the state, and he was slightly terrified. He thought he had prepared well, but of course it was nothing compared to Annie's constant stream of advice and questions that started the moment he picked her up on the way to the airport.

"Did you fix your phone? " she asked as they passed security.

"My phone isn't broken."

"No, I mean, it won't work unless you get a special SIM card from your carrier."

"WHAT!?"

"Don't worry, you can use mine. Although with the time difference, the books say it's better to email."

Jeff bit at his lip at the thought of a whole two weeks without being able to cover his awkwardness with texting. He could still do it, but she would know it wasn't real. He flicked his index finger and used the breathing technique his therapist had shown him as she skipped over to the shops, leaving him with the luggage and a sense of worry. When Annie arrived back with a pack of gum and two large water bottles, he was back to himself-- all Winger smiles and one-liners about her being a flight attendant.

The flight was a blur of a cramped seat, mediocre movies on a tiny screen, carb-filled meals, and Annie insisting they sleep on Japanese time to ward off jet lag. He tried not to think about why although he was bored and exhausted, it was hard for him to nod off with her head resting on his shoulder, her soft hair tickling his neck. 

After the wait of having their passports checked and going through customs, they descended on the escalator to arrivals and looked for their pick up. But in the sea of signs and taxi drivers, they don't see anything for them. Annie turned on her phone to see two missed calls from the Dean.

 _[Annie Edison, where are you? I'm here at the airport to take you and Jeffrey to the dorms, but the building is practically abandoned. Call me.]_ Annie's brow furrowed seeing the call was from nine hours previous.

"The Dean thought we would arrive like ten hours ago. That's odd, even for him, right?"

Jeff paused as a thought ran through him, a terrible, oh so typical Greendale, blood-chilling thought. He pulled her aside out of the way of the people who actually knew what they were doing, and dropped to his knees to dig through his leather bag, find his phone, and hope he was wrong. Annie looked at him confused as she listened to the second message.

_[Well, when you arrive, phone me, and I'll drive all the way back to this tiny little airport get you two.]_

Jeff pulled up his email and there, the tiniest asterisk is by the "Study at Greendale's Sister College in Tokyo!*" The clip art of pagodas and ninjas almost obscure the fine print he hadn't noticed-- "Tokyo Community College, Tokyo, Texas."

And there it was-- it had been too good to be true, and now he's taken Annie to the other side of the world on non-transferable tickets, just the two of them, and he had no idea what to do.


	2. Chapter 2

"Annie, before I say what I'm about to say, I want to remind you that we are currently in a culture that strongly disapproves of public outbursts."

"Jeff?" Her slow drawl of his name and slight tilting of her head toward him made his stomach clench. Suddenly the extra rice on the plane seemed like a really bad idea.

"We're in the wrong place," he said quickly, almost slurring the words together.

"Were we supposed to go to Haneda?"

"No, we were supposed to go to Texas."

"WHAT?!" A few people waiting in a line turned to look at the cause of the high pitched objection.

"Annie," Jeff whispered through clenched teeth. "It'll be fine." She sighed and seemed to shrink a few inches by the act.

"Yeah, it'll be fine... we'll just go exchange our tickets for the first plane we can get back to Colorado. Maybe we can get a ticket to Dallas and still make the classes, they weren't going to start for another two days anyway. Wait... we're a day ahead so we actually have three days, but we'll lose a day going back..."

"Annie," he tried to get her attention again. She had slipped back to her usual self, taking control and making the best of a bad situation. He held her shoulders, both to comfort her and to prevent her from hitting him. "We can't do that."

"Well, I'm sure if we talk with the Dean he'll let us be a day or two late."

"No, we can't exchange the tickets; they're non-transferable."

"Oh." Her eyes started to do the fluttering thing that made him feel like he was an asshole. "Well, I have some yen I brought for spending money, and I'm sure you do, too. We'll just buy new tickets and go back." Her voice wavered, and she turned away. He knew she didn't have that kind of money just laying around. She must have sacrificed and scrimped to just be able to tag along in the first place.

"I'm so sorry, Annie. I should have--"

"No. I didn't notice either. It's not entirely your fault."

"If it's anyone's fault, it's Greendale's. I mean, who advertizes a Texas city with ninja pandas eating sushi? It's all sorts of misleading and factually wrong. I think we have a case to sue for false advertising." She chuckled a little as she wiped the errant tears from her cheeks.

"Alright, we'll talk about the deposition on the flight back." Annie was smiling, but her voice betrayed how sad and tired she actually was.

It took over an hour to find the right ticket counter and then wait patiently in line. When Jeff asked for the next flight back to Dallas, the efficient attendant nodded and pulled up the results. The next available flight was in three days, and each ticket was 800,000 yen. Annie's eyes were like saucers.

"Jeff!" she pulled him down to speak low in his ear. "That's over $8,000, and I don't think I can stay three days in the Narita Airport." He smiled at the attendant and held his finger up to request a moment.

"Annie, what do you suggest we do? This is the only option we have to get back to the classes. I'm sure I can work something out with the Dean."

"Oh, screw the classes!" she said, hitting her clenched fist against the open palm of her other hand. "We're already here," she paused, looking up at him. "Let's just stay until our flight. I'm sure we can stay in Tokyo for a few weeks for less than $16,000, and we'll have a story-- an adventure just the two of us." The way Annie shrugged her shoulders with her last phrase made the last bit of trepidation Jeff had float away. He apologized to the attendant, grabbed their bags, and lead the way to the JR line.


End file.
